Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs

Grammy-nominated Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian (JOH TEE-en) seeks inspiration from different cultures and strives to mix them seamlessly into a musically satisfying combination for performers and audience alike. The Wall Street Journal states his works “accomplish two important things: They remind us of how we got from there to here, and they refine that history by paying belated tribute to contributors who might otherwise be forgotten.”

His music — described as “absolutely beautiful…utterly satisfying” (Fanfare), “stunning” (the Cincinnati Enquirer), and “a prime example of 21st-century global multiculturalism” — has been performed by leading orchestras and performers in the United States and abroad, such as Jaap Van Zweden, Yuja Wang, Manfred Honeck, Long Yu, Noah Bendix-Balgley, the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, “The President’s Own” US Marine Band, Dover Quartet, and Shanghai Symphony, where he recently served as the Artist-in-Residence. His Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned and recorded by Louis Langrée and the Cincinnati Symphony, earned him a GRAMMY Award nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2018, making him the first Chinese-born composer and the second Asian composer (following Tōru Takemitsu) honored in that category. In 2019, Beijing Music Festival named him “Artist of the Year.” In 2022, he became the first Asian-American composer to win the coveted Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award from the American Bandmasters Association for Sinfonia.

Born into a musical family in 1981 in Hangzhou, China, Zhou moved to the US when he was 19. Trained at the Curtis Institute (B.M.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and the University of Southern California (D.M.A.), he studied with some of America’s finest composers, such as Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Rouse, and Stephen Hartke. He is professor of composition at Michigan State University.

Emmalena Huning, from Perth, Australia, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2023 and studies violin with Benjamin Beilman and Erin Keefe. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Ms. Huning is the Yvonne Druian Fellow.

Praised for her “distinct voice” (The West Australian) and “emotional delivery” (Radio New Zealand), Ms. Huning earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied with György Pauk and Jack Liebeck.

Over the years, Ms. Huning has had success in many national and international competitions. She was a prize winner and placer holder at the John Curro National Youth Concerto Competition, Kendall National Violin Competition, and Osaka International Music Competition, and was the youngest semi-finalist at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. In 2022, she was awarded the prize for the Australian Musician of Promise at the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition and has since been engaged in multiple concerts at the League.

As an orchestral player, Ms. Huning has been the concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and String Orchestra, Western Australian Youth Orchestra, and most recently, the Tanglewood Music Festival Orchestra. She is currently concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and associate concertmaster of Symphony in C and has worked with internationally acclaimed conductors like Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andris Nelsons, Dima Slobodeniouk, Semyon Bychkov, Alan Gilbert, Trevor Pinnock, John Wilson, and Sir Mark Elder.

Ms. Huning is an awardee supported by the Australian Music Foundation as the AMF Nora Goodridge Developing Artist.

A violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz is president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music, following in the footsteps of renowned soloist/directors such as Josef Hofmann, Efrem Zimbalist, and Rudolf Serkin. As a teacher of viola at Curtis and former principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mr. Díaz has already had a significant impact on American musical life and continues to do so in his dual roles as performer and educator.

As a soloist, Mr. Díaz collaborates with leading conductors of our time on stages throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia.  He has also worked directly with important 20th- and 21st-century composers, including Krzysztof Penderecki—whose viola concerto he has performed many times with the composer on the podium and whose double concerto he premiered in the United States—as well as Edison Denisov, Jennifer Higdon, Ricardo Lorenz, and Roberto Sierra. His recording of Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Concerto won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2018.

As a frequent recitalist, Mr. Díaz enjoys collaborating with young pianists, bringing a fresh approach to the repertoire and providing invaluable opportunities to artists at the beginnings of their careers. In addition to performing with major string quartets and pianists in chamber music series and festivals worldwide, Mr. Díaz has toured Europe, Asia, and the Americas as a member of the Díaz Trio with violinist Andrés Cárdenes and cellist Andrés Díaz. The Díaz Trio has recorded for the Artek and Dorian labels.

Mr. Díaz’s recordings on the Naxos label with pianist Robert Koenig include the complete works for viola and piano by Henri Vieuxtemps and a Grammy-nominated disc of viola transcriptions by William Primrose. Also on Naxos are Brahms sonatas with pianist Jeremy Denk and Jonathan Leshnoff’s Double Concerto with violinist Charles Wetherbee and the Iris Chamber Orchestra led by Michael Stern. Mr. Díaz’s live performance of Jacob Druckman’s Viola Concerto with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra is available on New World Records. He has also recorded the Walton Viola Concerto with William Boughton and the New Haven Symphony for Nimbus Records, and works for viola and orchestra by Peter Lieberson with Scott Yoo and the Odense Symphony Orchestra and for Bridge Records.

Since founding Curtis on Tour in 2007, Mr. Díaz has taken this successful initiative to North and South America, Europe, and Asia, performing chamber music side-by-side with Curtis students and other faculty and alumni of the school. His tenure as president of Curtis has also seen the construction of a significant new building which doubled the size of the school’s campus; the introduction of a classical guitar department and new conducting and string quartet programs; and the launch of Curtis Summerfest, summer courses open to the public. In the fall of 2013 Curtis became the first classical music conservatory to offer free online classes through Coursera.

Also under Mr. Díaz’s leadership, Curtis has developed lasting collaborations with other music and arts institutions in Philadelphia and throughout the world and established a dynamic social entrepreneurship curriculum, supported by a prestigious Advancement Grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Designed to develop the entrepreneurial and advocacy skills of young musicians, this curriculum includes the project-based Community Artist Program (CAP) and the post-graduate Community Artist Fellowship program, which gives recent Curtis graduates the opportunity to dedicate a year of arts-based service to the community.

Mr. Díaz received an honorary doctorate from Bowdoin College and was awarded an honorary membership by the National Board of the American Viola Society. In 2013 he became a member of the prestigious American Philosophical Society founded by Benjamin Franklin. As a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he was selected by then-music director Christoph Eschenbach to receive the C. Hartman Kuhn Award, given annually to “the member of the Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and the reputation of the Philadelphia Orchestra.” He received a bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Burton Fine; and a diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teacher was his predecessor at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Joseph de Pasquale. Mr. Díaz also holds a degree in industrial design.

In addition to his decade-long tenure as principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he performed the entire standard viola concerto repertoire and gave a number of Philadelphia Orchestra premieres, Mr.  Díaz was principal viola of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, a member of the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, and a member of the Minnesota Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner. He plays the ex-Primrose Amati viola.

Ania Lewis, from Cleveland, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021 and studies cello with Peter Wiley and Gary Hoffman. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Ms. Lewis is the Gie and Lisa Liem Fellow.

In 2017, Ms. Lewis made her solo debut with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra and has won several awards and competitions throughout the Cleveland area. As a chamber musician, she was a founding member of the Lumiére String Quartet, who were prizewinners at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition. Additionally, she has performed chamber music with many prominent artists such as the Rosamunde Quartet, Steven Tenenbom, Roberto Díaz, and members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra.

With a strong love for orchestral playing, Ms. Lewis was the principal cellist of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in the 23-24 school year, and is currently the associate principal cellist of Symphony in C. She has performed as a substitute with the Cleveland Orchestra, and was awarded a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center. Her other festival participation includes the Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Domaine Forget International Music Festival, where she appeared in masterclasses for YoYo Ma, Johannes Moser, and Colin Carr.

Ms. Lewis holds a certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Young Artists Program where she studied with Stephen Geber and Mark Kosower. Other recent teachers and mentors include Yumi Kendall, Christine Lee, Nick Canellakis, and Martha Baldwin.